Is Coffee Bad?

Graeme_aberdeen

Hey all, just wondered if drinking coffee is bad for you and cycling?

Am going to get back into it after a period of lazyness/apathy and pick up the new hardtail on saturday..

Ive read the ace article here about food stuffs to help fuel and get rid of those pounds, however I love coffee (no sugar, splash of semiSkimmed) and have about 3-4 cups (300ml) per day working at my desk.

What does coffee do? and should I just cut it out?

Thanks

Graeme_aberdeen

Anonymous

I read some time ago that coffe (well, caffeine) tends to increase the body's fat burning by altering it's tendency to burn fats over carbs.
It was several years ago so it may have been refuted since, but AFAIK it still stands as a fact.

Chronicbint

If you want to lose weight you should not drink coffee as far as I know. Coffee can affect your blood sugar levels which can increase your insulin levels, the easiest thing insulin can do to regulate your blood sugar is to store it as fat.

Or at least dont drink loads of it.

Graeme_aberdeen

so would green tea be a better alternative?

Chronicbint

While green tea is a good antioxidant I would also avoid it when trying to lose weight as it also contains caffeine.

Although with losing weight its all about moderation, if you dont guzzle 5 cups of coffee a day the odd cup isn't going to hurt.

Best bet is water though.

Anonymous

but if you have higher than normal blood sugar, then surely that's a good thing during excercise?

Paulie W

There is quite a bit of research that suggests that caffeine is beneficial to endurance athletes.

There is also quite a lot of research that suggests that coffee is generally not that good for you and so should be consumed in moderation if at all.

Anonymous

coffee is the bestest thingest evererest though! And I've had waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too much of it today! :shock:

GJC

caffeine may be suggested to be benefical, but is also has a down side has it has a diuretic effect, which will cause to to wee more, which in turn has an effect on the body which will cause quicker dehydration, which will not be good.

The Northern Monkey

Diuretic effect of caffeine is negligible and varies too much person to person. Tooooo much caffeine and it can become a noticeable diuretic... but you'd have to pop a lot of pro plus.

Caffeine can increase alertness, reaction time and other mental tasks... not so much physical tasks.

I should know.. my dissertation was caffeine v non caffeine in sports drinks


To the OP...

the problem with too much caffeine is that it is an addictive drug. Your body can start to depend on it after a while.

Have you ever tried not having caffeine at work for a few days? feels like crap doesn't it! But then give it a few more days + detox with water and you'll feel fresh as a daisy.

Caffeine is ok in moderation.

GJC

I also studied the effects of caffeine as part of my sports science degree, but not as much detailed as you did. from our study it also showed have little effect on actual physical performance on a cycle ergometer compared to a (placbo) non caffine drink

The Northern Monkey

Depends on dose of caffeine and application.

Sports that are highly explosive (weight lifting, 100mm sprint etc) or require high concentration (archery, curling etc) show the best positive effect of caffeine on performance.

Also, caffeine increases alertness - you know the old reaction test with the ruler? better reaction times with caffeine!

Like I said... physical performance isn't really affected, its more mental performance

GJC

Its great we have such knowledgable people on the website that we can really benefit from providing us with useful infomation

keep up the great work

GJC

The Northern Monkey

Its about the only decent thing I can do with my degree

GJC

Yeah i know i went on to study a further degree and iam now study for my masters degree in cardiac ultrasound.

Anonymous

interesting stuff. Thanks guys.

Paulie W

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Depends on dose of caffeine and application.

Sports that are highly explosive (weight lifting, 100mm sprint etc) or require high concentration (archery, curling etc) show the best positive effect of caffeine on performance.

Also, caffeine increases alertness - you know the old reaction test with the ruler? better reaction times with caffeine!

Like I said... physical performance isn't really affected, its more mental performance

There is certainly research that suggests that caffeine benefits physical performance in endurance activity but not high intensity activity such as sprinting. I dont know about mental performance - it would be interesting to see how that is measured.

Frodo1095

GJC wrote:

Yeah i know i went on to study a further degree and iam now study for my masters degree in cardiac ultrasound.

Congrats on doing your masters in cardiac ultrasound, I do the same job for a living over here in NZ, trained over in the UK (City of Westminster) British Army before joining the NHS, decide that was crap so came to NZ and love it.

Good luck

GJC

Hi Frodo1095, thats where i did my cardiac physiology degree training the city of westminister college.

GJC

Frodo1095

Did you meet any of the Army people that wen through there ?

We all went there at some point over the years

militiacore

Pretty much most the major points regarding caffeine are covered.

For specific fat loss applications short term use at higher doses of 200mg-600mg daily are ok but for no more than 4-6 weeks. After this you'll gradually experience Adrenal fatigue, the early signs of which are increased tollerance to caffeine doses. This starts the viscious cycle of needing more for the same effects, building even more tollerance and even more Adrenal fatigue and so on.

The big downside to Adrenal fatigue is that it causes the body to release more Cortisol and high levels of Cortisol in the body can cause you to hold onto and even gain body fat. Excessive levels of stress and sleep deprivation are the other most common causes of elevated Cortisol.

For dosing on a ride then up to 200mg would be the limit depending on tollerance and duration of the ride baring in mind that at some point you'll start to crash down. So if you're in the saddle for over 2-3 hours then splitting you caffeine dose over the ride may be more prudent rather than in one big dose before the off.

GJC

Hi frodo I was there between 04-06. cant remember any army people sorry.

GJC